Tracking in nature - recognizing and identifying tracks

Imagine you find yourself in a real survival situation and have to prove every single second that you are capable of coping and surviving in nature. Physically and psychologically, such a scenario is usually incomparable to any previous life experience, because as a human being, you get the brutal feeling from Mother Nature that you should take care of your own well-being and survival as quickly as possible. The entire environment you are in can become a source of danger, as can your own ignorance or lack of experience.

Unfortunately, people today have very little of the mentality of the hunters and gatherers of the past. They were familiar with a wide variety of survival techniques and natural characteristics from the very beginning of their lives, so that an emergency situation would probably have required very little strength and concentration. It is therefore important for all of us, regardless of whether we live in the country or in the city, to reflect on the old values ​​and behavior of our ancestors from time to time in order to be able to use this knowledge to prepare for a possible emergency. Reading tracks and traces is one of these topics that many people have long forgotten. The art of being able to " read " or identify the " footprints " of the animal world in nature can be very important for survival in the field. WOLFGANGS presents this topic in more detail and tells you what is particularly important when reading tracks in nature.

Traces reveal potential prey

But why is tracking in nature so important? During a survival situation, you are confronted with impressions, influences and unforeseeable problem situations every day, which use up a lot of energy reserves. In order to ensure your own survival, it is therefore essential to provide food at regular intervals.

Just as a car on a remote and rough off-road route will most likely use more fuel and be subject to greater wear and tear, your body will also be subjected to greater stress, which in turn will require more food intake . In most cases, especially if you are not used to such situations, you will not be able to meet 100% of your food needs, but it is important that you find something at all in such a scenario.

Animal tracks quickly and effectively show you where you need to position your traps. They also tell you where a stand hunt will be most successful. Some animals can also be easily tracked using their tracks, and reading tracks in nature can tell you in which direction the animals may have run.

Often it is enough to just stay in one place, as animals often travel the same routes over the course of a day. After all, you always take the same route to work, don't you?

The right preparation for tracking in nature

Try to learn how to read tracks in nature as part of your normal everyday life so that you are prepared in the event of an emergency situation in the field. Since only a few people in distress happen to have information about how to read tracks in nature with them, it is important that you acquire at least a certain basic knowledge beforehand.

A tracking book, for example, is a great way to help you identify the tracks you find on the ground. With the help of a ruler, you can measure the tracks immediately after you see them and use the information you have obtained in the book to find out which animal it is.

You will see that after a short time you will develop a kind of routine and success in learning, so that you will be able to identify many of the clues without the help of the book. If it doesn't work that quickly, don't get discouraged too quickly and take your time. It is normal that this type of acquisition of knowledge takes a certain amount of time until you can master it perfectly.

Excellent conditions in winter

Winter is an excellent time for tracking in nature, as tracks can be easily identified on the sometimes muddy or snow-covered ground. The snow in particular ensures that the tracks, which normally disappear quickly, remain visible for a long time and the prints are almost " preserved ".

This is also a normal procedure for hunters. When they do what is known as “ tracking ”, they check after the first snowfall where the animals are coming from and roughly how many of them there are. As you can see, tracking in nature can be very beneficial when it comes to gaining insights into the behavior of the animal world.